Thursday, 11 July 2013

Front Line Assembly
are, for fans of electronic music, a band that needs no introduction.
Formed by ex-Skinny Puppy hand Bill Leeb in 1986, FLA have released a
string of internationally renowned and acclaimed albums. With an
impressive legacy to their name already, each subsequent album
becomes a greater challenge to just live up to the rest of the back
catalogue.

After the band's last
outing, the all instrumental soundtrack 'AirMech', the band feel
re-energised and fresh as they re-examine their early 90's sound and
reconstruct it with new vigour. Incorporating dubstep-style bass
(first heard on the afore mentioned 'AirMech') gives the album an “of
the moment” feel, but not one that denotes simply cashing in on the
flavour of the month. Instead the band assimilate the sound it into
their arsenal so effectively that it fits quite comfortable and even
manages to mask the pronounced lack of guitars on the album.

Songs like 'Leveled',
'Killing Ground', the title track 'Echogenetic' and 'Prototype' show
the band on top form with strong and complex beats, trippy bass and
demented distorted vocals powering them. While tracks like 'Blood',
'Ghosts' and 'Exo' venture into more melancholic and melodic waters
to give the album a well-rounded listening experience.

With the band dropping
the guitars the album has a much more linear sound than their recent
output. The songs are more dance friendly and less manic in their
construction. But 'Echogenetic' is by no means diluted by this. With
the band's sinister atmospheric electronics heavily upgraded and
taking centre stage once more, they present a tantalising prospect
for future releases.

The songs are
impeccably constructed as they distil nearly two decades of stylistic
exploration into each track. Though the vocal delivery and sparse
lyrics are at times a little frustrating as they veer from the
emotional to the monotonous. But it doesn't detract from the fact
that this is a great outing for the band that will serve them well on
both dancefloors as well as the live circuit. 'Echogenetic' presents
a Front Line Assembly that we haven’t seen for a while, but one that is still
very relevant.